Seeing in the Spirit

In our walk of faith, we often encounter moments where our vision becomes clouded, our hearing muffled, and our spiritual discernment dulled. It's a common experience for both believers and non-believers alike - this spiritual blindness that prevents us from truly seeing and understanding God's work in our lives and the world around us.

Consider for a moment the story of Samuel anointing David as king, found in 1 Samuel 16. When Samuel arrived at Jesse's house to anoint the next king of Israel, he immediately assumed that Eliab, Jesse's eldest son, must be God's chosen one based on his appearance and stature. But God had a different perspective:

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" (1 Samuel 16:7)

This pivotal moment reveals a recurring theme throughout Scripture: God values inward character more than outward appearance. It's a stark reminder that our human perspective is limited, often clouded by our own biases and expectations. We need to learn to see as God sees.

But how do we cultivate this divine perspective? It begins with recognizing our own spiritual blindness. Just as a window gradually accumulates dust and grime, obscuring the view of a beautiful garden outside, our spiritual vision can become clouded over time. Sin, pride, self-righteousness, and neglect of our relationship with God can all contribute to this spiritual myopia.

The good news is that this blindness is not permanent. God's grace is continually at work, seeking to restore our sight and bring us back into alignment with His perspective. The key lies in our willingness to humble ourselves, repent, and turn back to God.

When we do this, a remarkable transformation occurs. The Holy Spirit begins to regenerate our spiritual senses, opening our eyes to see "him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). We start to discern God's presence, His love, and His will with greater clarity. The veil is removed, and we begin to align our hearts with His.

However, this journey of spiritual sight is not always comfortable. In fact, seeing as God sees often challenges our comforts and confronts us with realities we may have been avoiding. It's not just about perceiving heaven's beauty, but also about recognizing earth's brokenness through the lens of God's love.

God's vision for us and the world around us is infinitely more strategic and comprehensive than our limited human perspective. As Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us:

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Embracing God's perspective requires humility and submission. It means being willing to have our preconceptions challenged and our comfortable worldviews disrupted. But in doing so, we open ourselves up to a profound transformation that reshapes how we evaluate people, trust God's ways, face challenges, understand ourselves, and encounter Christ.

This spiritual sight is not a one-time event but an ongoing process of alignment. It's about moving from mere awareness of God's presence to a deep alignment with His heart and purposes. It's a daily choice to see, listen, recognize, and follow.

As we embark on this journey of seeing through God's eyes, we might find ourselves confronted with unexpected calls to action. We may be challenged to love those we've struggled to forgive, to reach out to those we've overlooked, or to address issues we've long ignored. This spiritual gazing often draws our attention to the very things we've trained ourselves not to see.

But in this discomfort lies the beauty of spiritual growth. As we allow God to cleanse the windows of our soul, we begin to see with startling clarity the world as He sees it - full of both brokenness and potential, pain and promise.

The invitation is clear: "Lord, help me see the way you see." It's a prayer that acknowledges our limited perspective and expresses a desire for divine insight. It's an admission that we need God's grace not just to open our eyes, but to fundamentally change the way we perceive reality.

As we cultivate this spiritual sight, we may find our evaluations of people shifting. No longer bound by superficial judgments, we begin to see the heart, just as God does. We may find our trust in God deepening as we recognize His higher ways at work in situations we once deemed hopeless. Our approach to challenges may transform as we view them through the lens of God's wisdom and power.

Moreover, this spiritual vision has the power to reshape our self-understanding. As we see ourselves through God's eyes, we may discover a identity far more profound and purposeful than we ever imagined. And perhaps most importantly, our encounters with Christ become richer and more frequent as we learn to recognize His presence in both the extraordinary and the mundane moments of life.

The journey of seeing through God's eyes is not always easy, but it is invariably transformative. It's a path that leads us out of spiritual blindness and into the vibrant, challenging, and beautiful reality of God's kingdom. As we learn to see as He sees, we become more effective instruments of His love and grace in a world desperately in need of both.

So let us embrace this challenge. Let us pray for eyes to see and ears to hear. Let us be willing to have our comfortable perspectives challenged and our hearts aligned with God's. For in doing so, we open ourselves to a life of profound spiritual discernment, deeper faith, and transformative encounters with the living God.